Syracuse Crunch rookie winger J.T. Brown hopes the momentum of a hat trick he posted against Worcester on Sunday gets him rolling on a hot streak.Dennis Nett/The Post-Standard

Ted Brown knew at an early age that his son, J.T., was far more likely to break in his own set of new skates than follow in his father’s cleats.

Ted, a former running back for eight seasons with the Minnesota Vikings, used to try to rouse J.T. in time for 8 a.m. youth football practices. Ted needed a forklift to get the job done.

But when the alarm went off for 5 a.m. hockey practices, J.T. would spring out of bed like he was chasing a loose puck.

“He jumped right up. Boom,” Ted recalled Thursday. “I knew he was going to go that way. I said, well, he made his choice.”

A decade later, however, part of Ted’s athletic bloodlines continue to flow strongly in J.T., and Syracuse Crunch coach Jon Cooper is happy to see them emerge again.

Brown, a Crunch rookie winger, snapped out of a mild dry spell with three goals against Worcester on Sunday, including a pair of scores on his first two shots. Cooper said he had seen that eruption rumbling for awhile now as the heralded prospect started to bring a little football mentality to his hockey game.

At 5-foot-11, 177 pounds, Brown has the build and skill of a typical perimeter player. But that’s the trap, Cooper said. Brown is going against type when he dangles on the outside and ignores his thirst for contact.

“He’s a tough, gritty kid,” Cooper said. “I didn’t know how gritty he is. He won’t bow out of an altercation in the corner. He lays out and blocks shots.”

Brown, who has four goals and six assists on the season, at one time considered following both his father’s sport and position. He played running back in youth football but growing up in Minnesota decided that pond hockey carried more social benefits.

“He would have been a great running back. He had the skill set. But the effort probably wasn’t there,” Ted said.

“There was something about (hockey). Just being with all my friends started that up,” Brown said. “With football, it’s harder being with all your friends. Football was fun. But I had a lot more fun playing hockey.”

Ted could barely skate and didn’t know much about hockey, but he let his son have his niche. Several years later, after watching many hockey peers get slammed by parental pressure, J.T. appreciates his father’s blissful ignorance of the sport’s technicalities.

“I used to tell him, at least I can’t mess you up because I don’t know what to tell you,” Ted said.

“It’s almost better he doesn’t know too much about hockey,” J.T. said. “My dad’s main thing was to tell me to work hard. He’d critique me on effort level, things you can control. It was never the Xs and Os of the game. I get a little bit of (Ted’s aggressiveness). Most of the time it’s not being afraid to be the first guy in (toward contact).”

J.T. bulled his way through two strong seasons at Minnesota-Duluth, then jumped directly to the NHL for five games after the Lightning signed him at the end of last year. Brown earned that reward but Cooper pointed out that it shouldn’t obscure the developmental timeline that still pegs Brown as a prospect trying to fit into a strong AHL almost immediately after a quick college career.

That lack of experience can trap a player into straying from strengths, a problem that snared Brown a little bit earlier this season when he tried to get too fancy. A minor injury that kept him out of the lineup for a few games allowed Brown to watch Cooper’s systems from a distance and also spend more time reviewing video.

“It helped him to sit and watch our team. When he came back, he was more in tune with what we are doing,” Cooper said.

“It’s a lot harder, when you’re playing the game, to learn,” Brown said. “(Video) is a little bit easier than sitting on the bench, watching the game. There’s still a lot of things to work on. Little things, here and there, that you need to work on.”

Brown hopes the momentum to work toward more productivity picked up speed with Sunday’s outburst.

“Hopefully now I can contribute more on a nightly basis. When you do something like that, you have more confidence,” he said. “Having a big game is nice, it looks good. But I’d rather be doing it on a regular basis.”

Ted said he hopes to visit Syracuse in December to watch J.T. skate around the War Memorial. At one point, Ted envisioned sitting in the stands while J.T. scampered around a college or pro football field.

When reality returns, Ted knows his son had the right moves all along.

“I’m just happy for him that he’s doing something he wanted to do, and he chose a sport he’s comfortable playing, and not following in his dad’s footsteps,” Ted said. “That’s a lot to put on a kid’s shoulder. He’s following his own path.”